The Dallier Piano Trio
surges with a densely emotional Franckian
warmth which is offset in transparency
by the playful Scherzo. Even so it is
not long before Dallier has his players
driving up the temperature again into
the torrid realms of Rachmaninov, York
Bowen and early Fauré.
Much of Louis Vierne's
chamber music has been recorded by the
French company Timpani. As far as I
can recall the Cello Sonata was not
included in that series. It is played
here with a fine sense of perfervid
emotion. This is territory similar to
the cello sonata by Rachmaninov and
the sonata by the much underestimated
Manchester-born composer John Foulds.
The last two of the three movements
are packed with original touches. It
is a commonplace, but it is difficult
to see why such an eloquent work - with
a superb dénouement by the way
- has not been taken up by more cellists.
The sonata was dedicated to Pablo Casals
and premiered in 1912 by Ferdinand Pollain
and Marguerite Long.
I have been carrying
a torch for Bonnal's music since I reviewed
his two string quartets on Pierre Verany
back in 2001 review.
Kelly and Perrone again throw caution
to the winds in this fervently romantic
work written by a 20 year old composer.
Of the three works this has the most
impressionistic air. The buoyant sound
is refreshing after the other two forced
hothouse plants. The music develops
a Baxian tension in a wonderfully theatrical
conclusion to the first movement Assez
vite. That connection continues
in a touching movement of singing Celtic
outline recalling the Bax Piano Quintet.
The finale is by no means what Bonnal
necessarily intended - he appears never
to have completed the work. Fr Perrone
however offers up a related movement
to provide a symmetrical conclusion.
In fact it works quite well and while
it is a shade too short it is by no
means a scherzo without valedictory
substance. It is somewhat after the
model of early Fauré but with
a touch of Russian Gopak about it.
The recorded ambience
is warm - a shade too warm in the Trio
where the milling and eddying emotional
flow is so intense. Nevertheless the
gloriously resonant decay at the close
of its first movement is undeniably
impressive.
Intonation and ensemble
are excellent. These are never cold
performances. The players ride the passions
of these three works. They play these
works not as museum exhibits but as
living music. While the Detroit Chamber
Trio are not the Beaux Arts their communicative
zeal, spirit and technical skills are
never in doubt. The tonal riches of
violin and the cello stop short of opulence
without the listener feeling short-changed.
The most arresting example of their
playing and exegesis comes in the Andante
of the Bonnal (tr. 9).
The excellent notes
on the works are by Eduard Perrone.
The composers are profiled by Denis
Havard de la Montagne.
This recording and
its companions at Grotto Productions
are invaluable and I hope that there
will be more perhaps including the works
of Witkowski, Aubert, Ropartz and of
course the Piano Quintet (1881) and
Piano Trio (1898) by Dallier. And when
Fr. Perrone's orchestra have finished
their Paray project I hope they will
think about dusting off Bonnal's Symphony
Media Vita (1932) and his Paysages
Euskariens (1930).
Rob Barnett
Detroit Chamber Trio (Eduard Perrone (piano);
Velda Kelly (violin); Nadine Deleury (cello))
